Athletes Promote School Prayer

Prominent sports and entertainment figures last week lined up before
television cameras and a group of Congressmen in Washington to argue on
behalf of organized prayer in the schools.

The next day, in a letter to the Senate, leaders of a dozen national
Jewish and Protestant groups urged the Congress to reject the pending
school-prayer amendments "as an unnecessary intrusion into the delicate
balance ... between church and state in America."

President Reagan has said he expects the Senate to begin debate soon
on proposed constitutional amendments that would allow public schools
to begin the day with organized prayer. Senate sponsors of such
measures are reported to be divided on the language of the
amendments.

Last week's publicity session, sponsored by a group of House
Republicans, featured Joe Gibbs and Tom Landry (pictured above), the
head coaches of the Washington Redskins and the Dallas Cowboys, and
Meadowlark Lemon, a former Harlem Globetrotter.

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